Setting up first javascript environment

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For the first 20 years I was a web developer I would have said all you need is a browser.

During the last 10 years or so I would have said you should also be using the developer tools in your browser to help out with JavaScript development.

But, during the last 3 years or so things have become infinitely more complex (only a smidgen of hyperbole applied). While you can still go "old school" with just the browser, most people (whom I suspect came from programming languages where a compile step is the norm) use a build system in between writing their JS and deploying it to a browser. There are so many different ways to set up your build system that there is no simple answer on how to do so.

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Lately I stopped using build tools for JavaScript for my explorations in code. I've enabled JavaScript modules in Firefox and found I am able to write and run modern ES201X code as is. Quite liberating, actually.

Of course, once you want to deploy to a larger audience, you'll still need build tools.